Carmelita

"Carmelita" is is a song composed by Warren Zevon. He is known to have recorded a couple of demo versions and it was covered as far back as 1972 by Murray Mclaughlin before Zevon included it on his 1976 album, Warren Zevon.

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The song is ostensibly about a heroin addicted writer in love with a Mexican girl, but, as with many songs on Warren Zevon, it might be more accurate to say that it is about Los Angeles than about the character in question.

G.G. Allin covered this song as well. He turned away from his typical hard hitting punk to do a rather serene cover. The song can be found on the album Carnival of Excess and in an acoustic version on the soundtrack to Todd Phillips' 1994 documentary Hated. In the film Allin can be seen playing the song solo on his western guitar. He keeps Rondstat's lyric about the Smith & Wesson, and changes the lyrics from "playing solitaire with my pearl handled deck" to "playing Russian Roulette with my pearl-handled gun".

Michael Todd, bassist for Coheed and Cambria played a cover version of this song before one of their Neverender tour shows. Claudio Sanchez sang back up vocals. Mic said it was a song that got him through rehab. He was there for heroin addiction.